Perfume test packaging

ABSTRACT

A perfume test packaging characterized in that it comprises:  
     a sheath ( 25 ) having an opening portion ( 23 ), said sheath ( 25 ) being sealed prior to use; and  
     a backing element ( 4 ) suitable for receiving a fluid, said element ( 4 ) being disposed in the sheath ( 25 ) so that it can be extracted therefrom after the opening portion of the sheath has been opened.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

[0001] This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) ofpending U.S. provisional patent application Serial No. 60/291,005, filedMay 16, 2001, and priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(a)-(d) of French patentapplication No. FR-01.03886, filed Mar. 22, 2001.

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] The present invention relates to fluid packaging which isapplicable to the fields of perfumes, of cosmetics, or indeed ofpharmaceuticals. However, other fields of application are not excluded.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0003] In the field of perfumes, and more precisely of perfume samples,it is known that strips of paper or of card can be used on which adesired perfume is sprayed for the purpose of smelling it. That avoidshaving to spray the perfume directly on the skin, and it is thenpossible to test several perfumes on several strips of paper.

[0004] For the purpose of spraying the perfume on the strip of paper, asales outlet can allow its customers to use a spray of the kind that isnormally sold. However, such sprays are frequently stolen by dishonestcustomers.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0005] An object of the present invention is to improve on the perfumetest strip principle. To achieve this, the packaging should have verylow cost, since it is offered free of charge and is for single use only.However, the present invention may also be used in other applicationsthat are very different from applications to perfume test samples.

[0006] To solve this problem, the present invention proposes a perfumetest packaging characterized in that it comprises:

[0007] a sheath having an opening portion, said sheath being sealedprior to use; and

[0008] a backing element suitable for receiving a fluid, said elementbeing disposed in the sheath so that it can be extracted therefrom afterthe opening portion of the sheath has been opened.

[0009] Prior to being used, the backing element, which is comparable tothe prior art test strip, is protected in its leakproof sheath. When theuser opens the sheath to take hold of the backing element, said elementmay already be coated or imbibed with the fluid. However, the backingelement is not necessarily permanently in contact with the fluid priorto use. That is why the backing element may either be suitable forreceiving the fluid, or else be already coated or imbibed with the fluidin the sheath.

[0010] In an embodiment, the backing element is made of an absorbantmaterial suitable for becoming imbibed with fluid. However, it ispossible to consider using a backing element which is made of anon-porous plastic and on which a fluid is applied, the fluid being, forexample, a cream or an ointment to be applied to the skin. In the fieldof perfume test samples, it is preferable for the backing element to bemade of a strip of absorbent material suitable for being imbibed withperfume.

[0011] According to an advantageous characteristic of the invention, thebacking element is fixed to the opening portion. Advantageously, theopening portion serves as a handle for holding the backing element. Itis thus not necessary to take hold directly of the backing elementimbibed with fluid, with the risk that the fluid might soak into thefingers and distort subsequent tests. The opening portion, which is anintegral part of the closed sheath, serves both to open the sheath, andto take hold of the backing element.

[0012] In an embodiment, the sheath is formed by a shaped-section shelland by a sealing film, the shell and the film being locally bondedtogether, and the opening portion being formed by a bonded-together zoneof the shell and of the film, which zone is separated from the remainderof the sheath by a line of least resistance. The shaped-section shell,which is advantageously thermoformed, makes it possible to define aninternal volume in which the backing element can extend freely withoutbeing subjected to any stress.

[0013] In a variant, the sheath is made up of two sheets that arelocally bonded together, the opening portion being formed by abonded-together zone that is separated from the remainder of the sheathby a line of least resistance. By using two sheets, packaging isobtained that is particularly flat and whose total thickness is equal tothe thickness of the backing element plus the thickness of the twosheets.

[0014] According to another characteristic of the invention, thepackaging further comprises a fluid reservoir connected to the sheathvia a passageway that is initially sealed off, but that is suitable forbeing opened by means of a sufficient pressure being applied on thereservoir so that the fluid in the reservoir is driven from thereservoir through the passageway into the sheath which contains thebacking element on which it fixes itself. In which case, the backingelement is not in contact with the fluid prior to use, i.e. prior topressing on the fluid reservoir. Advantageously, the sheath, the fluidreservoir and the passageway are formed by a shaped-section shell and bya sealing film that are locally bonded together. Naturally, in theabsence of such an initially-separate fluid reservoir, the backingelement is initially imbibed or coated with the fluid.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0015] The invention is described more fully with reference to theaccompanying drawings showing two embodiments of the invention by way ofnon-limiting example.

[0016] In the figures:

[0017]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of packaging ofthe invention;

[0018]FIG. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section view through thepackaging of FIG. 1;

[0019]FIG. 3 is a view similar to the FIG. 2 view of the packaging whilethe sheath is being opened;

[0020]FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the backing element with itsopening portion attached;

[0021]FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of packagingof the invention; and

[0022]FIG. 6 is a longitudinal vertical section view through thepackaging of FIG. 5.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0023] In the first embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, the packaging is aperfume test sample designated by the numerical reference 1. Itcomprises a sheath inside which a backing element 4 extends. The sheathincludes an opening portion 23 that makes it possible to access theinside of the sheath in which the backing element 4 is situated.

[0024] The sheath may be made integrally with its opening portion 23.However, in the embodiment shown in the drawings, the sheath is made upof two sheets 2 and 3 bonded together around their peripheries to form abonded peripheral margin 21 which surrounds the sheath where it definesits working volume that contains the backing element 4. The openingportion 23 may be constituted by a bonded-together zone defined orseparated from the remainder of the sheath by a line of least resistance26 along which the opening portion 23 can be torn off, detached, orfolded back. To facilitate detaching the opening portion 23 from theremainder of the sheath along the line of least resistance 26, breakstarters 27 in the form of notches may advantageously be provided,between which the line of least resistance 26 extends.

[0025] Advantageously, one end 41 of the backing element 4 may be fixedto the opening portion 23, e.g. by being fixed between the two sheets 2and 3. Thus, the backing element 4 can be extracted from the sheath byusing the opening portion 23 as a handle member for pulling on thebacking element 4. This can be seen in FIGS. 3 and 4.

[0026] As mentioned above, the sheath may be made up of two sheets 2 and3. These sheets may be of the same type, e.g. a laminated composite filmof metal and of plastic. In which case, the reservoir 25 formed by thesheath is relatively flat, and the two faces of the sheath areidentical. In this embodiment, the backing element 4 can be subjected tostresses through the sheets of the sheath. The two sheets may even beconnected together along one of their sides to form a single sheetfolded over on itself.

[0027] In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, one of the sheets,namely sheet 2, may be made in the form of a shaped-section shell,advantageously by thermoforming, so as to form a flat peripheral margin21 and a dome 22 that makes it possible to define the volume of thesheath 25. To complete the sheath 25, the sheet 23 may be implemented inthe form of a sealing film which is bonded to the shell 2 at its flatperipheral margin 21. A relatively rigid sheath is thus obtained inwhich the backing element 4 extends freely without it being possible forit to be subjected to stress from the outside. Thus, as shown in thefigures, the dome 22 extends to the level of the opening portion 23 andthe line of least resistance 26 extends across the dome 22 at its endfacing the opening portion 23. Similarly, the shaped-section shell 2forms a portion slightly in relief 24 where the end 41 of the backingelement 4 is held between the shell 2 and the sheet 3.

[0028]FIG. 4 shows the backing element 4 more clearly, with its free end42 and its secured end 41 fixed to the opening portion 23.

[0029] The backing element 4 is shown in the figures in the form of anelongate strip. However, it is possible to consider other shapes for thebacking element, e.g. shorter or rounder. The present invention is notlimited to the particular embodiment of the backing element 4. When thepackaging is used as a perfume test sample, the backing element 4 ispreferably made of an absorbant material suitable for becoming imbibedwith fluid. Thus, the support element 4 inside the sealed sheath, asshown in FIGS. 1 and 2, is already impregnated with a small quantity offluid. After the sheath has been opened, and after the backing element 4has been removed, it is very easy to smell the fragrance given off bythe backing element 4 by holding it by the opening portion 23. Inanother embodiment, the backing element 4 may be made of a non-absorbantmaterial on which a fluid, such as cream, an ointment, or a gel isapplied. The backing element 4 may thus be flexible, relativelyflexible, relatively rigid, or rigid.

[0030] To secure the end 41 of the backing element 4 to the openingportion 23, it is possible to use the heat-sealing performed between thetwo sheets, but naturally it is also possible to use other techniques,such as gluing, for example.

[0031] The embodiment shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 differs from the embodimentshown in FIGS. 1 to 4 in that the packaging comprises a fluid reservoirsuitable for being connected to the sheath 25 via a passageway 29 whichis initially sealed off, and which can be opened by applying sufficientpressure on the reservoir 28. Therefore, in the initial state prior tobeing used, the backing element 4 contained in the sheath 25 is not incontact with the fluid, which is stored in the reservoir 28. To use thepackaging, the user starts by applying pressure to the reservoir 28 toopen up the passageway 29 and thus to drive the fluid out of thereservoir 28 into the sheath 25 which contains the backing element 4.The reservoir 28 and the passageway 29 may be made in the same manner asthe sheath 25, i.e. they may be defined by two sheets bonded together,or more advantageously, they may be formed between a shaped-sectionsheet and a sealing film. As can be seen in FIGS. 5 and 6, the reservoir28 may be formed in alignment with the sheath at the end opposite fromthe opening portion 23. To define the reservoir 28, the shaped-sectionshell forms a small second dome completed by the sealing film 3. Thepassageway 29 may then be formed by a zone in which the shell and thefilm are very weakly bonded together, through which zone the fluid underpressure can force its way between the shell and the film to the sheath25.

[0032] The packaging of the invention constitutes an advantageousimprovement to perfume test strips in that the packaging can be openedanywhere, and not only in the perfume sales outlet, and in that it isnot necessary to make relatively expensive sprays available tocustomers. It can also be noted that the backing element and the fluidare isolated from the outside prior to being used.

What is claimed is: 1/ A perfume test packaging to be smelledcharacterized in that it comprises: a sheath (25) having an openingportion (23), said sheath (25) being sealed prior to use; and a backingelement (4) suitable for receiving a fluid, said element (4) beingdisposed in the sheath (25) so that it can be extracted therefrom afterthe opening portion (23) of the sheath has been opened. 2/ A perfumetest packaging according to claim 1, in which the backing element (4) ismade of an absorbant material suitable for becoming imbibed with fluid.3/ A perfume test packaging according to claim 1, in which the backingelement (4) is fixed to the opening portion (23). 4/ A perfume testpackaging according to claim 1, in which the opening portion (23) servesas a handle for holding the backing element (4). 5/ A perfume testpackaging according to claim 1, in which the sheath (25) is formed by ashaped-section shell (2) and by a sealing film (3), the shell and thefilm being locally bonded together, and the opening portion (23) beingformed by a bonded-together zone of the shell and of the film, whichzone is separated from the remainder of the sheath by a line of leastresistance (26). 6/ A perfume test packaging according to claim 1, inwhich the sheath (25) is made up of two sheets (2, 3) that are locallybonded together, the opening portion (23) being formed by abonded-together zone that is separated from the remainder of the sheathby a line of least resistance (26). 7/ A perfume test packagingaccording to claim 1, further comprising a fluid reservoir (28)connected to the sheath (25) via a passageway (29) that is initiallysealed off, but that is suitable for being opened by means of asufficient pressure (P) being applied on the reservoir (28) so that thefluid in the reservoir is driven from the reservoir through thepassageway (29) into the sheath (25) which contains the backing element(4) on which it fixes itself. 8/ A perfume test packaging according toclaim 7, in which the sheath (25), the fluid reservoir (28) and thepassageway (29) are formed by a shaped-section shell (2) and by asealing film (3) that are locally bonded together; 9/ A perfume testpackaging characterized in that it comprises: a sheath (25) having anopening portion (23), said sheath (25) being sealed prior to use; and abacking element (4) to which a fluid is applied, said element (4) beingdisposed in the sheath (25) so that it can be extracted therefrom afterthe opening portion of the sheath has been opened.